Boyz - The Full Story Posted Saturday, December 01
Sometime ago AFENet published part of the Boyz interview that Gary did earlier this year. Finally, after many requests, here is the full interview..
First things first: is it true you only eat sausage and chips ?
Well, that's the bulk of it, but I eat a few other things: McDonald's, Kentucky, fish and chips, obviously. White bread toast, but that's about it.
I give you about four years
The funny thing is, I'm probably one of the healthiest people I know. Every so often, because of my flying, l have to do medicals and the doctor always says 'Do you work out?' 'Cause I've got this very, very low heartbeat and cool blood pressure where it's supposed to be for someone who's very fit, but I don't do any exercise at all I'm waving flags for bad eating
Despite your new stuff, people are gonna think you're back on that old 8Os trip.
I've avoided anything to do with retro like the plague. I got asked to do that Culture Club thing, and I love Boy George and all that, but the music I'm making now is really heavy and dark, and it would be an absolute mistake to have anything to do with retro at all. One of the biggest problems I've had is that I wrote 'Cars', and that song has been so successful that it's kept reminding people I come from a bygone era. I've had to work very, very hard to come out of that. Well, I'm still trying to come out of that.
People like Armand Van Helden and Marilyn Manson regard you as an influence. How do feel about that?
Erm, it's Iovely. To have anybody say that you've been an influence on them is obviously a nice thing, but when it comes from people that I'm actually a fan of myself, and from people who are regarded as influential themselves, then it really has a big impact on me. Now I'm probably a very, very credible bloke where ten years ago I was a bit of a joke really.
Did you feel like a joke ten years ago ?
Well, I knew I wasn't particularly popular amongst the media.
Did you give a shit?
No, not really, no. If I was the sort of person that went out and sought that kind of approval from people that don't even write songs then I guess it would have bothered me a lot, but I'm not.
Are you embarrassed about the way you looked back then?
No. There were certain clothes that I wore that I obviously shouldn't have done, but all in all I always looked a bit sulky, but that's my natural expression. I've got a big fat bottom lip. If ever I'm just standing there, you know, not laughing my head off, I tend to look a bit miserable
What about the hair?
Well, there's nothing I could do about that, 'cause I didn't have much, so all I could do until surgery came along was do the best I could with what I had.
So you're like Elton John - you've done the surgery?
I've had it done twice. All they do is they move it from one bit of the head to the other. if you've lost more than fifty per cent of it, you're in trouble. That's where I was lucky when I lost the front of mine. They took it out of the back and then replant it in the front in tubes of skin. You're left quite badly scarred. I had over 200 stitches in my head
The clinic that did it used me in their advertising. 'cause I was cool about it. I thought the best thing I could do was just to be honest and say I've had it done; 'cause if the press find out, they'll crucify me. The second time was much better, and that was about seven years ago, and I'm fine now. In fact, to be really honest about it, I've actually got a better hairline now than when I was born.
Who did you used to hang out with in those early days?
I was a hermit didn't hang out in the music business at all until about '93/94.
Why not? Surely that's part of the attraction.
Unfortunately, it was stupidity on my part, and me just being very young with too big opinions and not much experience. And I tended to think that popstars were all self-obsessed wankers.
Which Is right.
Which seems fair enough, but you're not one. The press gave me a really hard time, so I didn't want to hang out with any of them, didn't want to go to gigs. I did a lot of 'it until I got successful, and then when I became successful, I kind of got really paranoid about the whole thing and just cut myself off from it completely.
It doesn't sound like you were enjoying being successful?
I did. just didn't enjoy it the way other people do.
Wasn't your wife your 'number one fan'?
She's a fan, definitely. She used to turn up at concerts, and that's howl got to know her name. She was one of the few people who didn't - and this sounds horrible - come back to the hotel for a quick shag or something. And although I was obviously interested in the ones that were there for a quick shag, I recognised the fact that she wasn't, and just thought it was nice. And then on one particular tour, round about '92ish...
She said 'About that quick shag...'
[laughs and laughs and laughs] No. she didn't. I was talking to her, and she was really upset. It turned out that her mum had just been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and it was all really, really grim. I spent the whole night talking to her, got to know her a little bit better, and she was lovely. Shortly after that, I find out that her mum had died. My own relationship with my girl had split up, so I rang her. I only saw her casually throughout the next year, but as time went by, I wanted to see her more and more and more.
Were you doing all the quick shags before she came along?
Well, you're in your band, you're out and about, you're away from home, there's people screaming at you every night: you'd have to be a very, very strong, morally strong focused man to say no to that, wouldn't you?
I'd get them to form an orderly queue.
Yeah, I wasn't known for my quality control, no. I wasn't particularly fussy depending on what time of night it was.
Did you shag boys, or was it just girls?
No, just girls.
You never shagged a single boy?
No! You sound surprised. I don't think I've even been offered. Let me think... Maybe three or four times in my entire life I've been offered by a bloke.
That's not bad going.
Well, I was surprised actually. I don't think I'm anything to look at or anything like that, but I just would have thought that being in the band and that I would have got more offers. I did a gig at G.A.Y in '82 and didn't get one single offer.